Dream Catchers - The Art and The Medicine

What is a Dream Catcher's purpose?

Each one of us are connected in the sacred web of life. Each one of us are energetic beings. Each one of us produce thought forms. Each thought form produces energy. Each one of us are affected differently from the energy of thought forms. Dream time many are left susceptible to the energy of thought forms as the conscious barriers and guards are let down. The result, for many, is nightmares. The dream catcher is sacred and is thought to provide a protection to those who sleep beneath the sacred dream catcher.

Will all Dream Catchers Work?

Within the traditions, the art of creating a dream catcher is respected and revered. As a sacred object there is meaning and purpose behind each part of the dream catcher. When each part is placed with intent and through sacred prayer it produces sacred 'medicine' that empowers the dream catcher. It is important to know who created the dream catcher and their intent before placing it over your place of sleep.

The Art of Dream Catchers

A sacred dream catcher, in the traditional sacredness, will be created from willow branch. There are thirteen tied points across the bent willow that are made. In the traditional creation process, there is purpose behind every step of the creation process. As an example, in the tradition, a dream catcher is worked upon during the night time hours. This is to imbue the catcher with the spirits of the night. It is thought that during the midnight hours the veil between the worlds is the thinnest and the prayers made at this time are received in the spirit world immediately. Each knot made upon the dream catcher is a prayer for the sacred 'medicine' of the creation is made and added. The prayer ties that are made are 'charged' and if not done properly could actually cause more harm then help. Many traditional dream catchers will also have some item from a totem animal of the artist that is added. The purpose of this item is to add the 'medicine' of that totem to the dream catcher. This could be any number of articles that are either part of the animal or represent the animal.

How do Dream Catchers Work?

A traditional dream catcher is hung over the place a person is sleeping. During the night while the person sleeps, all dreams, thought forms, and energy pass through the web of the dream catcher. If they are negative in any respect, they are captured in the webs much like a spider web catches its prey. Positive energy is allowed to flow through easily. The location of the dream catcher should be such that during the day light hours the sun's rays can strike upon it as the rays will turn the negative energies into positive through the rays of light. The dream catcher should be returned to the artist that created it after one year or at the very least burned in a ceremony and replaced if necessary.

It is vital to remember that the dream catcher is considered a sacred tool with a powerful 'medicine' within it. It is not a decoration.
Originally published on SearchWarp.com for Rev. Carla Goddard Friday, July 30, 2010
Article Source: Dream Catchers - The Art and The Medicine

A Simple Journey

I was asked to post this as a public blog rather than a private note for a few to read. After much prayer and meditation, I have decided to post it.

May this journey draw you nearer. I was called into sharing my journey for a reason. I pray it is to draw you nearer to the Divine.

The journey of our lives can be filled with twists and turns but as I have always said, the magic is in the journey. And through the trials I have found the treasures. I have found the miracles. I was recently asked to share the intimate parts of my journey that it may serve some purpose. So at the end of this journey as my heart was tested may it draw you nearer.

Some have said they see courage and strength, some vigilance and fortitude, others incredible faith and miracles in this journey I have been on. Me - I just see it was a journey. When people speak of the miracles performed by Jesus such as the blind man can now see, the cripple can now walk, and the leper now healed those are not just some stories in a book. They are my miracles. Those are the miracles that the Divine Source in my life has manifested in my life.

There were times in my life when I was a cripple. Unable to stand and walk or even do the simple everyday things that most take for granted like determining when I had to use the bathroom. There have been times in my life when I have had a seizure in the middle of room full of people and came to with EMT's standing over me and people gawking and staring not daring to get to close. There have been times when doctors have said the words "we don't know if she will make it through the night". I have sat in the IVP clinic for hours while the doctors filled my veins with fluid, knowing this might not work. I have laid in bed only to get up and have my hair remain on the pillow with my tears. Times where you look in the mirror and not know who the person looking back at you is. Wondering where you went? I've been there. I have had my heart stop. Seen the lights.

I have curled up in a ball and sobbed uncontrollably when I heard the words "your baby didn't make it". Felt the helplessness when your child has been kidnapped. And all you want in the world at that very moment is to hold your baby. I've been there.

I have walked the city streets and stood on the corner waiting and willing to do whatever was necessary to get that next fix. I have been to the gates of hell and fell through. I have felt the viciousness of being raped. Of having your dignity and innocence stripped from you. I have felt the blade of a knife against my throat. I have felt desperation. I walked the journey where desperation gave way to hopelessness. Thinking the only way out was to relieve the pressure of living. I know where the depths of hell are. I've been there. A place where it no longer hurts because you no longer feel ... until you come to.

I have been baptized in a Pentecostal Church. I was raised Baptist. Converted to Catholism. I was initiated into a coven and practiced for some time with both Wicca and other darker realms. I was initiated into the RDNA after studying for a year. I am part of the Penobscot Nation. I am an Ordained Waiest Monk. I have a degree in Metaphysical Sciences and am Ordained as such. I have studied the Tao. And my Gate Keeper tells me I should say I walk a Shamanic journey of a Medicine Woman.

Looking back I don't see the things others see. I know when you have walked a mile in another's shoes only then can you know where they come from and begin to understand them. The journey continues and every day is a miracle. It happens when I awaken. Every day I roll from bed and hit my knees and say thank you to whomever is listening. Every day when I know I have to tinkle I say thank you. Every day I notice which flowers have bloomed and take the time to say thank you. Every day I see my children that still live at home and say thank you. Every day I pray for the ones that are not in arms reach and say thank you. Every day I spend time alone with my Divine Source and say thank you and help me please. Every day I tell at least one friend how much I love them and appreciate them in my life. Every day I touch the tree of life and inhale its beauty from the roots that delve deep into the darkness of the Earth all the way up to the branches that reach for the heavens. I do this not because of faith. I do this because every day is a miracle.

So I suppose I have walked a journey that some may say shows courage and strength, hope and dreams, faith and belief. But I say I have walked a journey of miracles as I walked through fear and weakness, hopelessness and desperation, loneliness and discontent. The miracle being that I am walking, I am seeing, and I am breathing life.

Do I have faith? Yes, but surely is not the same as yours. Do I have belief’s? Yes, but surely not the same as yours. Do I have dreams? Yes, but surely not the same as yours. Do I have hope? Yes, but surely not the same as yours. Do I have courage? Yes, because I still can have fear. Do I have strength? Yes, because I can still be weak.

So my wish for you is that you have some fear and weakness. My wish for you is that you have your own hopes and dreams. My wish for you is that you find your own faith and belief’s. But if along the way you need some love, come find me because I might need some love too. And if you need to cry, come find me because I might need to cry too. If your lonely and need a friend, come find me because I was once alone too. If you want to laugh, come find me because I laugh now too. If you want to sing and celebrate, come find me because today I sing and celebrate too.

It is my simple journey. A tapestry of life that weaves the fabric of my life together one thread at a time